A Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R was selling for around $25,000 in September 2015, roughly a year after the 25-year import rule first made it street-legal in the United States, according to Hagerty’s own valuation data. Today the average sold price for an R32 GT-R sits at $56,634, based on completed auction transactions tracked across Bring a Trailer and other marketplaces. That’s more than double in roughly a decade, on a car most American buyers couldn’t legally register a generation earlier. The 25-year rule has quietly created its own appreciation curve — and it’s not the same curve for every JDM icon that’s crossed the threshold.
Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 (1989-94) — from $25,000 to $56,634 average
The R32 was the first Skyline GT-R to hit U.S. import eligibility, starting in 2014, and it set the template for everything that followed. Hagerty tracked the average price at $25,000 in September 2015 and $34,900 by May 2020. Current data puts the average sold price at $56,634, with recent Bring a Trailer transactions ranging from $31,500 for a rougher example up to $47,000 for a cleaner 1990 car sold this past August. New in Japan in 1989, the base R32 GT-R carried a sticker of roughly ¥4,445,000 — about $31,300 at the era’s exchange rate.
Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 (1995-98) — average $85,607, with outliers well past $800,000
The R33 became import-eligible starting around 2020, and it’s already caught up to — arguably eclipsed — the early R32 frenzy. Sold data shows an average of $85,607, with standard V-spec examples landing between $87,000 and $99,000 in recent sales. The outlier end of the market belongs to special editions: a 1996 Nismo 400R sold for $857,500 in August 2026, a reminder that limited-run variants operate in an entirely different price tier than the base cars they’re built from.
Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 (1999-2002) — base cars near $160,000-$240,000, Nür models over $500,000
The R34 only started becoming import-eligible in 2024, and the market is still absorbing the first wave of legal U.S. arrivals. Standard and V-spec examples have recently sold in the $159,998 to $239,995 range, while the ultra-rare M-Spec Nür — of which only a limited run was ever built among the 11,578 total R34 GT-Rs produced — has sold for as much as $599,212. Hagerty separately clocked excellent-condition examples peaking around $316,500. With most of the 25-year window for R34s still ahead, this generation is the least settled of the three.
Mazda RX-7 FD (1992-2002) — average $48,593, clean R1 models pushing $100,000-plus
Import-eligible since 2017, the twin-turbo FD RX-7 shows the same pattern as the Skyline generations: wide gaps between everyday examples and the rare trims. Recent sold data puts the average at $48,593, with lower-mileage examples typically landing between $30,000 and $44,000. The rare Japan-market R1 and Spirit R trims tell a different story — a 5,000-mile R1 sold for $99,900, and a Spirit R with 40,000 miles brought $109,999.
Toyota Supra RZ/GZ (JDM twin-turbo, 1993-2002) — benchmark $48,801
The Japan-market RZ and GZ twin-turbo Supras — distinct from the U.S.-spec Twin Turbo cars sold new domestically — carry a current market benchmark of $48,801, according to sold-listing data, sitting well below the $107,206 benchmark commanded by U.S.-market Twin Turbo Supras with more established collector recognition. It’s a reminder that import status alone doesn’t erase every price gap — badge history and domestic-market brand loyalty still matter at the margins.
The common thread across all five cars is timing, not hype. Each one’s price curve accelerates in the years right around its 25-year import cutoff, then keeps climbing as the pool of legally importable examples — versus the far larger pool still stuck overseas or already crushed by Japan’s shaken inspection system — shrinks. The R34 is roughly where the R32 was a decade ago, right after its own cutoff hit. Whether it follows the same trajectory toward the mid-$50,000s and beyond is the bet every buyer entering that market right now is quietly making, and the next cars in line — 1997-99 Silvia S14s and early-2000s RX-7 Spirit R models — are only a few years from facing the same test themselves.